Hi, I have a question about how the whole gigabit LAN thing works. I have an ASUS Crosshair motherboard and much like many other motherboards on the market it has dual gigabit LAN ports. I have Cox internet (their website says that my connection speed is 1.5Mbps) and I have a Linksys wireless G router (model WRT54GS). Cox offers 2 other internet connections, one is 7Mbps and the other is 12Mbps. If I were to upgrade to either one of these connections, would I have to upgrade my router as well to a wireless N router in order to acheive the fastest connection possible? (I need wireless because I have multiple computers around the home). As I understand, the "N" routers (lynksis) are the ones that are capable of gigabit transport speeds. Does the whole gigabit LAN thing only refer to networks or internet connections as well?

the modem is the bottleneck even at 12mbs... unless your isp offers a +54mbs connection, there is no need to upgrade.. the main thing you get with wireless N is extended range benefits within your home network, isp's really don't factor into the equation at this time because they come nowhere near providing even the speeds 54g does on your home network.

this whole gigabit lan thing is really a non-need for home users using cable and dsl.. it's eyecandy to the home user, nothing more.

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*Q6600@3330mhz 1.35v - True120 | Abit IP35pro | 2x2GB Gskil | 2 x EVGA GTS 250- shader 1890 | Corsair HX520 | OCZ Vertex 60GB/Seagate 7200.11 500GB
*x4 810@3250mhz 1.32v - Xigmatek S1283 | MSI K9A2 CF-F 790X | 2x1GB Kingston HyperX | 2 x MSI GTS 250- shader 1890 | Antec EW 500
*Q6600@3330mhz 1.36v - Scythe Mugen | Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L | 2x1GB Ballistx | XFX GTX 260 (192) shader 1512 | OCZ Stealth 500w

I see... So I should be able to upgrade my internet connection and just keep the rest of my components, right? I want to get a faster connection and if just simply upgrading my current connection, I should be okay (I'm assuming)?
Thanks for the reply by the way...

yep...

your smallest pipe is your network bottleneck. until your router becomes the smallest pipe, no need to upgrade-when your isp offers a +54mbs connection, then you could benefit from a bigger pipe on the router for internet access speed. even at 12mbs your only using 1/4 of your router pipe.

Only other reason to go with N:
If you have a bad wireless signal and want the range benefits with N, or have a need for greater than 54mbs between your home networked pc's (like large file transfers).

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*Q6600@3330mhz 1.35v - True120 | Abit IP35pro | 2x2GB Gskil | 2 x EVGA GTS 250- shader 1890 | Corsair HX520 | OCZ Vertex 60GB/Seagate 7200.11 500GB
*x4 810@3250mhz 1.32v - Xigmatek S1283 | MSI K9A2 CF-F 790X | 2x1GB Kingston HyperX | 2 x MSI GTS 250- shader 1890 | Antec EW 500
*Q6600@3330mhz 1.36v - Scythe Mugen | Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L | 2x1GB Ballistx | XFX GTX 260 (192) shader 1512 | OCZ Stealth 500w

Yes, to make use of such connection, everything form your Ethernet card to the ISP must support it.

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World's best Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge mod and Star Trek: Starfleet Command 3 mod: Overmind.ro

I have another question, I wasn't too sure as to where I should post it. So I decided to just throw it out there and see if I get any feedback. Here goes... I have an internal card reader (you know, the ones used to read the digital camera memory cards) and the connection coming out the back is a cable with a 5-pin header. The card reader is a USB 2.0 card reader. It also came with a cable that converts that 5-pin header into a USB plug (like the ones on the back of motherboards and the on towers, with the white plastic strip in it)... Well anyways, I don't have one of those USB connectors on the inside part of my motherboard. I only have the 9-pin headers on my motherboard. I don't want to install a new USB PCI card. So, I'm wondering if I can just plug the 5-pins into the lower 5-pins of my USB header. I want to be sure it's okay to do so as I do NOT want to damage anything. Hopefully everybody understands my question. I basically want to plug the card reader directly into my motherboard! Thanks people.

The pins are 2x USB ports.

You can connect them with the actual USB ports (that you can add in the back of the case - those extra ports come with your MB).

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World's best Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge mod and Star Trek: Starfleet Command 3 mod: Overmind.ro

Gigabit Ethernet allows network transfers up to 1.000 Mbps using standard Cat 5 UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cabling. How can this be accomplished, since Cat 5 cables can run only up to 100 Mbps? We will explain this and also other very interesting issues regarding Gigabit Ethernet performance.